There are simple things we could do in our WordPress sites which would make our website accessibility. WordPress is designed with accessibility in mind. We just need to utilize those resources.
- ALT Tags/Text
One thing we should always remember to do is to put in an ALT Tag/Text. An Alt Tag is used for images we place on our websites. I have seen very few websites on WA which have an ALT Tag/Text. When you are inserting "media" into your WordPress website, that meaning, an image, you will be given options to enter specific parameters which will enable someone using a screen reader.
Screen readers can read text, but they cannot "read" an image. However, if there is an ALT Tag/Text attached to the image, the screen reader will read that text within the ALT Tag/Text so the user can understand what the image is representing and how it related to the textual content. Individuals who are blind for instance will use a screen reader. When you are in your WordPress admin area, you will see the following on your right hand side.
You can enter text in the area called "Alt text" and when a screen reader scans over your image, your text will be read to the individual who is unable to view your image.
- Avoid Color-Coding Text
Sometimes when developing text, we will use color-coding to emphasize something. Have you seen shopping cart websites which indicate the "sales items are shown in red"? How is someone who is color bind and cannot read "red text" going to be able to indicate what items are on sale that day/week/month? If you need or want to use color-coding within your content, be sure to add another element such as an asterisk or put the word "sale" next to the item.
It does not just stop with using color-coded text. It also affects your background color and text color you use on your website. You can also use the Accessibility Color Wheel link below to text the color of your text with background color to determine if your website confirms to accessibility. The way it works is it tests your website against three different types of color blindness.
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As far as my empathy and sincerity with disabled people, I have ADHD myself and my son has Asperger's Syndrome and my father was blind in one eye and I worked for in the field of special education for many years, so I tend to always think of those with different needs.
Steph
We will hold hands and walk the road together.
Stay safe.
-Theuns
I'd like to share a couple of things I learned as well in my attempts to adhere to both Section 508 and WCAG Compliance:
- Most browsers (and operating systems) carry a "focus box" function which can be enabled using the Tab Key. This will either appear as a bright colored box or as a thin, broken line. Screen readers will recognize this as the viewer's "focal point", and will read out any text on screen or alt-text that has been included in any image.
- I'm sure this isn't applicable to our sites, but as much as possible, avoid any "drag-and-drop" functions on sites as accessibility tools do not provide any means of emulating this.
- Animated content is challenging to view when it comes to accessibility. As much as possible, keep content static, but if it is needed, ensure that there is an alt-text implemented.
- If you're using video, be sure to check if the media you're using has a separate channel for "described audio" as well as an option for closed captioning. This way you are able to accommodate users with your rich media content.
These are just some of the ones I've come to learn about, and so I felt that it should be shared to everyone here. Hope it helps!
- Raphy
Those are all awesome points too when considering accessibility and I cannot thank you enough for adding to the discussion on it. As I mentioned in the training and earlier in these comments, I only scratched the surface when it comes to creating accessible content for our websites and images. I appreciate all of those added tools. I sometimes have cautioned folks about using the drag and drop because of the reason you stated above.
You are fabulous for providing these added suggestions when taking into the consideration individuals with varying abilities.
Steph
Accessibility is definitely something that can be tricky to pull off, yet the important thing is to have it in mind during any part of web development. There's no umbrella solution for all disabilities as there are plenty of known and unknown ones out there, and each of them have different needs. But the best we can do is to accommodate them as best as possible with the tools that we have.
Best,
Raphy
Well said. It is impossible to cover all the bases for all types of disabilities like you said, but as long as we are making a good faith effort to accommodate those that we can, we are a million steps ahead of so many other web developers out there.
Steph
